RYANAIR is threatening to ground its planes after Brexit in order to persuade voters to "rethink" the historic 2016 Leave vote.

Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary said he wants to "create an opportunity" by making people realise they are "no longer going to have cheap holidays".

He told an audience of airline leaders in Brussels if Brexit voters faced restrictions on where they could go on holiday, they may reconsider their decision.

The controversial boss said: "I think it's in our interests - not for a long period of time - that the aircraft are grounded.

"It's only when you get to that stage where you're going to persuade the average British voter that you were lied to in the entire Brexit debate.

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Ryanair could ground planes after Brexit to force voters into a rethink

"You were promised you could leave the EU and everything would stay the same. The reality is you can leave the EU, yes that's your choice, but everything will fundamentally change."

Mr O'Leary warned that there would be a "real crisis" with flights between the UK and the EU set to be disrupted after Brexit.

He said: "When you begin to realise that you're no longer going to have cheap holidays in Portugal or Spain or Italy, you've got to drive to Scotland or get a ferry to Ireland as your only holiday options, maybe we'll begin to rethink the whole Brexit debate.

"They were misled and I think we have to create an opportunity."

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Ryanair could ground its planes for a short time after Brexit

But while EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren responded by joking "if you start grounding your planes, I'm flying”, Carsten Spohr, boss of German carrier Lufthansa, said sending a message could be beneficial.

He said: "In theory, if we could use this industry to prove to the British how wrong the decision was, that might be a good thing."

The single market for aviation, created in the 1990s, means there are no commercial restrictions for airlines flying within the EU.

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Michael O'Leary said the move could help voters see they were 'misled'

Mr O'Leary has repeatedly warned that airlines will be forced to cancel post-Brexit services from March 2019 if no agreement is reached in the Brexit negotiations by September, because schedules are planned about six months in advance.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said in January that he is confident flights will not be grounded because "it's in the interests of everyone" to maintain the open market for aviation.